Once again a bunch of us crazy DCU bloggers are doing a crossover of sorts started by the always fantastic Frank Diablou – who runs a number of great blogs on DC heroes most notably his Martian Manhunter blog. I have always enjoyed reading his posts and he scanned the cards for the crossover. Apparently inspired by a Tom Hartley so shout out to both of them for this.

This time around the crossover is going to revolve around the 1989 Mayfair Games DC Roleplaying System. I am not going to lie, I know NOTHING about table-top roleplaying games. I have always been curious. After a night of drinking, I went home with a dude once who said he was going to be playing Dungeons and Dragons the next day (And I was in awe because he was a hot guy! Hey maybe not all RPGers are antisocial weirdos! I should have known better to prejudge – people say the same thing about us comic fans.) Anyways, that is quite enough about my personal life let’s take a look at Jericho’s card from the 1989 set…

Jericho is a good fit for this blog – I’d say he is definitely a member of the Anti-Didio League. The current editorial regime at DC forced Sean McKeever to write Deathtrap which he did not want to write – and it all led to Teen Titans #69 having NO WRITER CREDIT! Deathtrap was a crappy Titans/Teen Titans crossover that had Jericho going evil again (because apparently all the body hopping left him with remnants of those bodies that had evil personalities – not one of the drawbacks mentioned on this card obviously). Jericho going evil had been done seven thousand times and frankly no one but the editorial people at DC wanted to read it again. Interestingly, Jericho was supposed to have joined up with his father’s team but he hasn’t shown up since the Titans: Villains for hire thing started – I have a feeling the prison that Deathstroke says their headquarters are is for Jericho.

Anyways all of this led to McKeever leaving DC – his run on Teen Titans was literally destroyed by editorial interference and who do you think that editor was? Yep, the one and only Dan Didio.

Here are some other fantastic blogs celebrating Mayfairstivus that probably know more about RPGs then I do. Check them out!

Our heroine featured in a few comic books in May 2000. Besides her own book, she guest starred in Azrael: Agent of the Bat, Young Justice, and Batman: Gotham Knights. Let’s take a look at those why don’t we? Let’s start with Azrael: Agent of the Bat #66 by Denny O’Niel and Roger Robinson.

While she only appears in one scene, it was great to see her show up here as I loved what O’Niel and Robinson had done when she last showed up in this book. They created a great bond between Batgirl and Azrael, and I like how Jean-Paul is happy to see her. Robinson draws a great Batigirl as usual.

I love how annoyed she gets with him here! He quickly figured out that she was asking why he wasn’t in costume and wasn’t talking about herself at all. Batgirl has no life outside of the costume at this point – I can understand why she wouldn’t expect Jean-Paul to either.

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Her next appearance was in Batman: Gotham Knights #5by Devin Grayson and Dale Eaglesham and featured another team up of Azrael and Batgirl!

Justice Leauge villain, The Key, has put a lockdown on Arkham Asylum. Batman is fighting him, but Batgirl immediately knows something is different about her mentor.

He’s become too violent and is close to killing The Key. Because she is AWESOME and reads body language, Batgirl knew this before he even started the real violence. This leads to a little father-daughter fight.

She may see him as her father and mentor, but she will not let him break his own rules and go too far with the villains. In fact, if he did, I imagine it would destroy her on an emotional level. He gets away from her, but Batgirl follows him and even saves a thug that Batman haphazardly throws off a roof!

They later discover Batman’s emotions are being manipulated by the Key himself. Batgirl isn’t there when this happens – I am sure someone explained it to her though between panels.

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Next we have Batgirl’s first appearance in the wider DCU (Okay she was in the previous issue but that doesn’t really count, does it?) in Young Justice #21 by Peter David and Todd Nauck.

The book opens with the perfect splash page hinting at what is to come.

Apparently, the group starring in this issue was a replacement Young Justice…which Arrowette mentions in the issue is missing a dark and angsty member like our heroine.

Batgirl encounters the team while they are fighting Klarion in Gotham (Called the angst capital of the world by the narration)

In a book so focused on comedy, it’s interesting things gets serious the second Batgirl shows up. From the get-go, one can tell this is a character who really doesn’t belong in this book but can make a fun guest star.

Pre-Crisis, Flamebird Bette Kane was Bat-girl, but in current continuity she has always been Flamebird, so this is kind of a continuity mistake but I will let it slide for the in-joke. The fact that she was once Bat-girl does make the first meeting between these two characters all the more interesting though.

At first, Batgirl thought they Young Justice were picking on a normal little boy. But after she realizes who the villains is, she lets loose!

And perfectly in character, she disappears at the end of the issue…..Only to be scolded by Batman (He sure acts like a jerk in this scene doesn’t he?)

So no she never joins the team and I am not sure she would have worked in the tone of this series as a regular, but it was still fun to see her interact with the other young heroes even for a brief time.

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29

And finally we come to Batgirl’s own book with Batgirl #4 by Kelly Puckett, Scott Peterson, and Damion Scott. This issue introduces some huge changes for the Dark Knight Damsel!

As Batman and Alfred try to figure out if the video sent to them last issue is a real or a fake…Batgirl goes out on patrol by herself and saves a man from his would-be killers. But this is no ordinary man…

What did he do to her? Batgirl is thinking in words!

I remember when this issue first came out there was some people annoyed that Batgirl didn’t just learn language slowly on her own. Those people clearly have never taken any developmental psychology classes before. It’s debated, but it is generally thought that there is a window of opportunity for the human brain to learn language because of the sad case of the girl named Genie. At 17, it was probably too late for Batgirl to acquire language in any advanced form. I wonder if Puckett and Peterson knew this and that is why he chose to have this man, Wilson Jeffers, alter her brain with his powers. Either way, this would be a great topic for a psych paper.

The fact that she could now think in words did not completely change the character though, because they establish right away she has difficulty speaking. This was a great idea as it allowed the writers to keep her as the “Silent Knight” member of the bat family but still allow us to see her thoughts.

But Jeffers messing her brain is not without its side effects…

She can’t read body language like she did before and therefore can not predict what her opponents will do next! Can our heroine overcome this? Stay tuned…

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The new Superboy series is set in Smallville and Jeff Lemire portrays the town as a seemingly normal town with strange things going on under the surface. I wish I could remember who said it, but some blogger wrote that this series owes more to Peter David’s Supergirl series and the town of Leesberg then anything else. I have to agree! And it has put me in the mood to once again look at the early adventure of the one and only Linda Danvers!

Last time, we learned that the protoplasmic Supergirl known as the matrix had bonded to teenaged Linda Danvers and saved her life. (Click on the link to learn more.) This time we learn more about Linda Danvers’s past. As Frank commented, Linda had something to do with the ritual murders going on in Leesburg. In fact…

Buzz is certainly a powerful guy isn’t he? Able to interact with Supergirl on a telepathic level. Here he shows her the atrocities that Linda had committed. Supergirl refuses to let that bother her..

She accepts that Linda was a bad person…but believes she was destined to save her. Once again continuing the theme of faith and destiny that underlies this book.

Anyways, in the third issue of her new series, Supergirl crossed over with the DC Big Event of 1996, Final Night. In it the sun is nearly destroyed by a sun eater and many believe the world is coming to an end. Fortunately, this allows for the perfect look at religious ideas about the end times. Seriously, Peter David knows how to tie into a cross over without taking away from the main themes of a series.

And to show the hopelessness of the final night juxtaposed with religious imagery, we get these panels…

One of the great things about this Supergirl was she wasn’t Kryptonian and therefore had different powers then Superman, and that allowed for different stories. Unfortunately, it looks like bonding with the human Linda has made her lose her invisibility power. Once again, we are shown how Buzz seems to be everywhere at once too. He is a powerful little creep.

Not only is Leesburg filled with looters, but something else is going on here we learn when Linda’s religious mother enter the church and finds the citizens of the town turning into literal beasts!

The issue ends with Supegirl discovering Gorilla Grodd and a strange talisman to be behind the transformations! And Supergirl transforming herself!

Even Linda had her own Dark Supergirl outfit long before Kara Zor-El did! Despite being under Grodd’s control, we automatically see the Girl of Steel fighting it – starting with the refusal to hurt her mother. Buzz seems to be helping her here.

There are a few foreshadowing moments in this issue – two on the page below.

Peter David has Grodd calling Supergirl his angel! If you know anything about how this book turns out you will understand why Peter David wrote that line — if not stick around and you will find out. The boy that Linda Supergirl sees watching her will become an important character as well.

Needless to say, Supergirl defeats Grodd and returns the populace to normal but not before Linda’s friend Mattie’s brother is murdered and the townsfolk do many things they are ashamed of. In the final moments of the issue we get another sighting of that little boy.

With recent revelations about what is going on with my favorite Batgirl in current continuity (I will do a post about this at some point soon) and her appearance in Red Robin, I am psyched once again to bring you the early adventures of our heroine. Today we will look at her two comics of April 2000: Batgirl #3 and Young Justice #20.

As you recall from the previous issue, Batgirl’s crush, John Robinson, died while she was trying to save him. It was in no way her fault…but Batman for some reason feels that she could have done better.

The family dynamic is quite interesting. We’ve already talked about how Batman is very much a father figure to Batgirl, but this scene it’s almost like Oracle is the mother figure and they are arguing about how to raise her right.

Batman does actually talk to her about the “failure.”

Despite her answer, Batgirl got what he was saying as you will see later in the issue.

Anyways, Batman and Batgirl arrive in one of Gotham’s many abandoned wherehouses where bad guys hang out where she proceeds to beat the crap out of seven men while Batman talks to the main guy! That’s my girl!

I love how Batman uses her to scare the shit out of the bad guys now! They made awesome partners! A true dynamic duo if you will.

Things don’t go well for long…

Batgirl comes face-to-face with her first super strong metahuman. Realizing that she isn’t trained for this, Batman gives her the little girl that they were saving and tells her to go. She does as ordered as the little girl cries for her daddy…Batgirl has a flashback to her biological father.

What a screwed up childhood…but despite what they were doing, the flashback shows she does this just to maker her father proud, naive to the fact that this isn’t a normal father-daughter activity. Damion Scott is a great artist as he manages to convey all this without a single line of text.

As we return to the present time, we see a young woman who still wants to make her father proud – even if this time it is Batman and not her biological father. She wants to show him she can beat the metahuman and that she understands that as he said, in their line of work they can not fail. And she shows him just that!

The relationship between Batman and this Batgirl was so awesome…I want to see that Bruce and Cassandra reunite in present continuity ASAP.

The issue ends with a cliffhanger as Batman recieves a mysterious video tape of Batgirl when she was a little girl.

I wonder how he will react….?? We will have to see next time.

That’s really it for April 200o except for in a brief cameo in Young Justice #20 by Peter David and Todd Nauck. This marks her first appearance outside of the bat-books.